COPING WITH STRESS IN

MIDDLE AND LATE

ADOLESCENCE
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
❖Discuss that understanding stress and its sources
during adolescence may help in identifying ways
to cope and have a healthy life.
❖Identify sources of one’s stress and illustrate the
effects of stress on one’s system; and
❖Demonstrate personal ways of coping with stress
for healthful leaving.
❖Defining Stress
1. Stress as Stimulus,
Response, and Relational
2. Healthy Stress
❖Know Your Stressors
❖Coping with Stress
 STRESS
A reaction of the mind and the body
to a stimulus that disturbs the well-
being, state of calm or equilibrium
of a person.
 STRESS
Psychologist have agreed that small
and sporadic amounts of stress can
be helpful and beneficial to
individuals, while excessive amounts
of stress sustained over a lengthy
period of time can be destructive to
both physical and mental health
 Stress as stimulus, response,
and relational
Aside from being a reaction ( or response),
stress is also a stimulus, as well as a
relational condition between person and the
situations they are in. ( Feist and Rosenberg
2012)
 Stress as a Stimulus
As a stimulus, stress is caused by
situations that may be life threatening
or life changing , such as separation,
moving into a new home or having a
new job. These situations or events are
often called stressors.
 Stress as a response
Stress as a response is the way the body reacts in a challenging
situations.
◦ Interaction between the hormones, glands and nervous system
where the adrenal gland drives the cortisol or better known as
‘stress hormone.”
◦ The production of cortisol enables a person’s body to produce the
energy it needs to gear it toward action
◦ Release of substance called norepinephrine, triggers the body’s
reaction, such as an increased heart rate, higher blood pressure,
and respiration, to prepare the body for action
Prolonged or chronic situations that involve both cortisol
and norepinephrine will eventually affect the body to
wear down chronic stress often causes fatigue, aging,
and illness caused by low immune system.
 Stress as relational
When a person experiencing stress takes a step back to look
back at the situation that is causing the stress and assesses it.
Assessment here means that when the person allows reasoning
to prevail and weigh the relevance or irrelevance of the situation.
If the relevance is positive the person will look at the situation in
a more positive light. If the relevance is negative, this will
produce negative emotion that may lead to stress.
 HEALTHY STRESS
There are certain types of stress that can benefit a person.
Stress that is short and sporadic can propel a person to a
necessary action. These types of stress can motivate, energize
and spur an individual into fruitful action
Healthy Stress can propel the competing individual to perform
better.
Bad stress can be transformed into good stress depending on
how an individual assesses the situation.
 What are the usual stressors of
middle and late adolescence ?
Two sources of stressors (Mayo clinic in the united
states)
External stressors – are those that come outside of you like
situations, people and experiences.
Internal stressors- are those coming from within you, like
thoughts that you have that caused you to feel fearful,
uncertainties about the future, lack of control over
situations, and even your personal beliefs, which include
your own expectations.
Samples of possible stressors a
high school student faces:
Quizzes and tests, homework
and projects, oral recitation,
quarterly exams and final
exams, and grades most
especially,
epitomize(summarizes) the
kind of stressors adolescents
have when it comes to
studying.

SCHOOL DEMANDS AND

EXPECTATIONS
SELECTION A SCHOOL, COLLEGE
COURSE OR CAREER
SEPARATION ANXIETY
COLLEGE LIFE
ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS OR THE
LACK OF IT
FAMILY DEMANDS AND
EXPECTATIONS
HEALTH CONCERNS
DEMANDS OF SOCIAL LIFE
BULLYING
Coping with stress
 Here are some of the examples as
illustrated above
❖Conduct creative imagery of the problem
❖Seek group or social support
❖Get into relaxation activities
❖Create a situation where you can feel more relaxed
❖Learn to manage your time
❖Eat properly by selecting nutritious, healthy foods
 In addition to the coping mechanism
suggested above, you may also wish to
do the following
❖Seek spiritual growth through prayer and meditation. Be mindful of
the presence of the divine in your life, and interpret the events and
people in it as part of a bigger plan not even you can comprehend
for now.

❖Have a worthwhile hobby like cross- stitching, singing, dancing

drawing or collecting items.

❖Watch a movie with friends

 In addition to the coping mechanism
suggested above, you may also wish to
do the following
❖Have a nice, quiet walk with a member of your family after dinner
❖If the stressor is one of your expectations, assess it and see if it is
doable and realistic or not. Then adjust the expectations to what
you are capable of doing one step at a time.
❖Believe in yourself that you are strong and courageous, that you
are capable of overcoming the challenges that you are facing,
and that any stressful situation will bring out the best in you and will
make you stronger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcGyVT
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